WPY 2017

Memorial to a species

A black rhino bull lies dead after its killers entered the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park, South Africa illegally. An autopsy found that the poachers’ first bullet failed to kill the rhino, which ran a short distance before a second bullet took its life. The rhino’s appalling death is only augmented by the yawning hole where its horn should be.

Saving Hope

Using ground-breaking techniques, a team of top wildlife vets attend to a gaping wound on a white rhino named Hope. After 16 surgical procedures, which included experimenting with grafts of hippo skin and elephant hide, the injury gradually began to heal. Sadly, Hope died just a few months later from an intestinal infection.

Last of a kind

Standing in Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy, this northern white rhino is the last male of his species. An armed guard keeps a 24 hour watch over him and his two female companions – also the last of their kind. Over the years, the guards have developed a close relationship with their charges, leaning on them as they walk together through their days.

Caring for Lulah

This one-month-old calf, Lulah, was found wandering in Kruger National Park, South Africa. Poachers had killed her mother and in the aftermath, she had been attacked by hyenas. Dorota was appointed to look after Lulah and maintained a constant watch on her injuries, feeding her, taking her temperature and sleeping beside her in the enclosure.

The rhino-horn farmer

Dawie Groenewald proudly breeds valuable game, including rhinos, for sale and hunting on his farm in Limpopo province, South Africa. He is a driving force behind recent efforts to legalise the trade in rhino horn, arguing that farming could supply demand without the rhinos being killed. Although the ban remains, the debate – like the poaching – continues.

Point of sale

In Vietnam, a client watches as a specialist prepares a tonic. She has breast cancer and has been told that drinking rhino horn could cure her. Brent went undercover to photograph this phenomenon finding that the hope of health outweighs any concerns over the treatment of rhinos. ‘Which of us wouldn’t do whatever we could if our own child was sick?’ he asks.

Photograph Details

Winner 2017

The Wildlife Photojournalist Award: Story

Brent Stirton, South Africa

Rhino Horn: The ongoing atrocity

Although the international trade in rhino horn was banned more than 40 years ago, horns still have a higher value on the black market than gold or cocaine. From the poorest of poachers to the richest of ranchers, this illegal trade is ultimately driven by human beliefs.

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Brent Stirton, South Africa

Brent is a photojournalist who spends half of the year on environmental issues and the other half on more conventional photojournalistic themes. He is represented by Verbatim by Getty Images and most of his work is shot for National Geographic magazine.